Patrick Comerford
I was in Aylesbury for an hour or two the other day, more by chance than intention. But the town centre is always a charming place to visit with its timber-framed buildings, cobbled streets and an impressive mediaeval parish church, Saint Mary’s.
Many people are a little surprised that Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire, and not Buckinghamshire – or, perhaps, even Milton Keynes. Names can still be deceptive: Buckingham Hospital is in Buckingham, but the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital is in Aylesbury.
The name Aylesbury is thought to be derived from ‘Aigle’s Burgh’, meaning hill town or fort. A number of pre-Roman settlements in the area are believed to date back to ca 650 BCE, and Aylesbury later grew up inside these defences.
There has been a church on the site of Saint Mary’s Church since the 12th century. It was extended throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, and the 15th century perpendicular west window is still in situ. The church was completely restored by Sir Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) in the 19th century.
Aylesbury was made the new county town of Buckinghamshire by Henry VIII in 1529. At the time, Aylesbury Manor was owned by Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, and it was said the king made the change to buy the approval of the Boylen family. The town was given a charter and borough status in 1554 by Mary Tudor to show her appreciation for its loyalty when Aylesbury declared her queen against the competing claims of Lady Jane Grey.
The town played a key part in the English Civil War. The Battle of Aylesbury was led by Oliver Cromwell’s cousin John Hampden, and was fought on nearby Holman’s Bridge in 1642.
As the centre of local government, a starting a period of building development in Aylesbury in the late 18th century, with many civic and residential buildings.
Walking through the cobbled streets to the south and west of Saint Mary’s Church, I glimpsed Prebendal House, a large Grade II*-listed Georgian house set in communal gardens in a private enclave at the end of a street named Parson’s Fee. This is a charming street with timber-framed cottages and runs between Castle Street and Church Street, within the historic Conservation Area of the old town.
Aylesbury remained a feudal manor until the 13th century when new smaller landholdings were formed. These new small manors created by royal grant were often known as fees: Aylesbury had several fees, including the Castle Fee held by the principal lord of the manor of Aylesbury; Otterer’s Fee, granted to the king’s otter hunter; and Church Fee, endowed to the church. Aylesbury had a small degree of autonomy as a prebend of the Diocese of Lincoln, and the Church Fee, which was controlled by the priest of Aylesbury, and Church Fee came to be known as Parson’s Fee.
As its name indicates, Prebendal House was originally associated with the church, and it has later associations with figures of national importance. A Saxon nunnery may have stood on the site in an earlier age. The prebendaries of Aylesbury can be traced back to Ralph in 1092, when the prebend of Aylesbury was attached to the See of Lincoln.
However, the first record of Prebendal House dates from 1656, when it was a stone and timber building. The house was built in several phases, and elements from each phase survive within its fabric. Many of the original interior spaces retain their period fixtures and fittings. The cellars seem to have survived from a 17th century house that was the precursor to the 18th century house.
The present house was built in the early 18th century and extensively modified by its most notable resident, John Wilkes (1725-1797), MP for Aylesbury in 1757-1764. Wilkes came into possession of an estate and income in Buckinghamshire in 1747 when he married Mary Meade (1715-1784) and he lived in Prebendal House from the mid-1750s until he died.
Wilkes was a radical politician and spent time in the Tower of London in 1763 when he was accused of seditious libel after he published inflammatory pamphlets attacking George III and prominent members of his administration. He was released after 15,000 people marched the streets of London in the ‘Wilkes and Liberty’ marches.
Wilkes is remembered as a defender of freedom of speech and personal liberties, and is known for his charitable donations. He was associated with Sir Francis Dashwood of West Wycombe and the infamous Hell Fire Club at West Wycombe Park and the Hell Fire Caves.
Prebendal House is a handsome stuccoed building, and the entrance has grand classical proportions with a portico of ionic columns. The house had been a school and then offices before it was converted into apartments in recent years, but most of its original fabric has been maintained.
A communal hallway with a cantilevered staircase and intricately carved panelling leads to the second floor of the house. The interior features include generous ceiling heights, arts and crafts fireplaces, far-reaching views over Saint Mary’s Church and out to the surrounding countryside and the Chiltern Hills.
Access to the house is by a brick-built gatehouse, incorporated by John Wilkes during his time at the house. The communal gardens of about 1.25 acres include ancient trees and mature planting.
Nearby, at Prebendal Court to the north of Prebendal House and facing onto Nelson Terreace, a plaque placed by the Aylesbury Society on an apartment block in the development recalls how an Iron Age hillfort ditch dating from 650 BCE was excavated on the site in 1985.
The findings suggest the site of Prebendal House represents the southern continuation of the western line of the Iron Age and later Saxon defensive circuit. The remaining deposits and structures were associated with the construction of Prebendal House and the landscaping of the gardens from the 18th century onwards.
As for the Prebendaries of Aylesbury, they continued to hold office for centuries. They included Roger de Wenesham who became Bishop of Lichfield and died in 1257.
Percival de Lavinia, who was Prebendary of Aylesbury in 1285, was also the Archdeacon of Buckingham in 1270. His brother Ottobuono de’ Fieschi became Pope as Pope Adrian V on 11 July 1276, but died on 18 August 1276 before even being ordained priest. In the Divine Comedy, Dante meets Adrian V in the fifth terrace of Purgatorio, where Adrian V is being cleansed of the vice of avarice.
John Hacket (1608-1670), who became Prebendary of Aylesbury in 1623, was appointed Bishop of Lichfield after the restoration of Charles II, and was responsible for rebuilding Lichfield Cathedral.
Since John Pretyman died in 1842, the Prebendaries of Aylesbury have been honorary canons. But for many centuries before that they had no associations with Prebendal House.
